2020 :: week 31

July 26

Lauren worked on her Doodle Crate early Sunday morning. She ended up making a cool portfolio that holds a sketch book. I really like how these crates come with detailed directions and are designed for the kids to be able to do themselves. All of our kids, Lauren especially, love making things. Usually she is pretty independent, but sometimes I go a little crazy when I am trying to do another task and she requests immediate assistance. Last week I took her to Hobby Lobby and she picked out a bunch of felt to make pillow and stuffed animals for her dolls.

July 27

This is not what I was expecting when Elliott wanted to show me his "new trick." He stands on the windowsill and then "flies" onto the big beanbag.

July 28

The Gessells stayed the night Tuesday as they head back home to Virginia. It had been a long day in the car, so the kids were happy to play in the back yard for awhile. After the kids played outside everyone came inside and got ready for bed. Elliott and Brigham decided to "spy" on everyone and used Will's bow to shoot arrows at the rest of us. They are two imaginative boys who have a tendency to be sneaky. Brigham slept on Will's bed in the big boys room and Adalaide slept on the bottom bunk in Lauren's room. The girls talked about books and read together for quite awhile before falling asleep. Will slept on the floor in his room because he got to stay up a bit later and sauna with the adults.

July 29

We were able to squeeze in a little more play time before the Gessells left Wednesday morning. I made the kids line up for a picture. It ended up raining most of the day, so we mostly played inside. At one point, when the rain was coming down very hard, Will, Lauren and Elliott ran outside and danced in the rain. They were absolutely soaked when they came back in, but had huge grins on their faces. Elliott splashed in so many puddles he had little specks of dirt in his hair.

July 30

My favorite time of day is after dinner when the kids and I read together in my bed. Lauren and I read together most nights, and sometimes Will joins us. Now that baseball is back, Will sometimes listens to the Royals broadcast, which is why he is wearing headphones. I have been feeling tired this week and so the overcast and rainy weather we experienced fit my mood perfectly.

 July 31

The Allreds and Staritas are in town! On Friday morning we met up at Scouting Park and played for a few hours. Elliott and Tyler riding on the zipline together was one of the funniest things I have seen in a long time. Miles had a fun time swinging with Arthur and following him around, though Arthur is so much faster there as more watching than actual following. Will, Lauren and the uncles played "the floor is lava" and tried to make it from one end of the playground to the other. This park trip also marks the first time Elliott successfully made it across the monkey bars.

 

 August 1

This is my life now. Will is old enough to make cookies by himself, and also old enough to care about the Royals game and chose to listen to the entire radio broadcast on his kindle. We made a lot of chocolate chip cookies this week, with the Gessells passing through and then the Staritas and Allreds in town.